Abstract
Outdoor education literature has a recent history of examining its practice through a variety of sociological, philosophical, psychological, and anthropological lenses. Following this trend, this paper explores the face-to-face social interaction of a fictional introductory rock-climbing course. The analysis of this creative fiction draws on Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical framework, as described in his book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959). The discussion highlights how participants and instructors on a practical skill development weekend are involved in the complex endeavour of projecting and sustaining impressions for each other. Goffman’s concepts regarding the ways in which humans conceal and reveal information about themselves may offer outdoor education instructors and researchers a helpful perspective through which they can consider how individual participants’ actions are influenced by the perceived expectations of the different audiences they encounter.
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Elizabeth Pike General Secretary of the International Sociology of Sport Association, and a member of the Editorial Board of the International Review for the Sociology of Sport.
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Beames, S.K., Pike, E.C.J. Goffman goes rock climbing: Using creative fiction to explore the presentation of self in outdoor education. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education 12, 3–11 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03400865
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03400865